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I just have to share the pretty! When I took the Overture to Estonian Lace workshop with Nancy Bush, she showed us what's possibly the Prettiest Lace Pattern Book Ever, Haapsalu Sall. It's Estonian Lace, all the traditional patterns, photos, and history. Glorious, glorious photos. I managed to track down a copy (hobipunkt is now offering the English version, and lots of yarn to go with it):
However, lovely as it is - and I can still read all the charts - it's in Estonian, a language I don't speak. Or read, although I know at least one useful word. ("Sall" - Shawl.)
So, when Fibre Space announced that copies of the English-translated version were in, I hopped right on over and got one:
And yes, it's pretty much the same inside.
... but all the words are in English, so I can actually read them, instead of looking at the pretty pictures. (Keeping the in-Estonian copy too, though. One can never have too many photos of pretty Estonian lace!)
What I read last week: Molly Harper's Jane Jameson trilogy, Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men, and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever.
Tired of overly-emo vampires and too-sculpted werewolves, but still fond of the little critters of the night? This is the series for you.
Srsly! These books are fun - as in giggling-out-loud fun. When was the last time a book made you giggle? (Please comment with title/author. I'm always looking for new books.)
Jane, the main character, is like that friend everyone has who always has the perfect snarky-but-not-mean thing to say that makes everyone laugh, and has no idea she does it. And she adjusts to her sudden onset of vampirism about as well as that friend of yours would - with plenty of flailing around and, of course, snarky-but-not-mean things to say. (Well, maybe one or two mean things. She'd be entitled, right?) There's always an element of mystery to each story - they could be classified as mysteries, but the "comic mystery" genre is really just starting to find its legs. So, "funny mystery with lots of romance" or "funny romance with lots of mystery" - either works as a label. There are some great reviews out there, and you can judge for yourself via the links under "Recommend", below. But I recommend these, I really do!
The Back of the Jacket (from the second book):
Once a devoted children's librarian, Jane Jameson now works at a run-down occult bookstore. Once a regular gal, she's now a vampire. And instead of a bride, she's an eternal bridesmade - which leads her to question where exactly her relationsihp with her irresistably sexy sire, Gabriel, is headed. mercurial, enigmatic, apparently commitment-phobic vampires are nothing if not hard to read. While Jane is trying to master undead dating, she is also donning the ungliest bridesmand's dressin history at her best friend Zeb's Titanic-themed wedding.
Between a freaked-out groom-to-be, his hostile werewolf in-laws and Zeb's mother, hell-bent on seeing Jane walk the aisle with Zeb, Janes got the feeling she's just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs.
Meanwhile, Half Moon Hollow's own Black Widow, Jane's Gradma Ruthie, has met her match in her latest fiance. he smells like bad cheese and has a suspicious history of dead spouses. But Jane's biting her tounge. After all, would a nice girl really think she has a future with a vampire?
This set of books works nicely as a trilogy - but I'm really hoping there will be more Jane Jameson books in the future. It's such a fun take on the whole vampire/werewolf thing, and refuses to take itself too seriously.
Genre(s):Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Vampires/Werewolves
Audience: Adult, Young Adult (some sex scenes)
Online Extras: Mollly Harper's Author Page at her publisher - My life in 8 words: "One woman, too much snark for one soul." And the companion blog, SingleUndeadFemale.blogspot.com, and, of course, her author site, MollyHarper.com.
Reading Time: About a day each, they're fun & quick!
Recommend: Checked out the first two from the library, then hunted down all three & bought them. The Molly Harper Site, lets you read an excerpt from each of the three books, which will give you a good idea of Ms. Harper's style.
I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.
I finished something!! The Neverending Clapotis is ended!!
It's three skeins of Blue Ridge Yarns Kaleidoscope Superwash Sock Yarn, 2 in Ocean Coral (at either end) and 1 in Dragon's Breath, all purchased at Nature's Yarns, Inc. in Fairfax, Virginia. Yes, that's 1,200 yards of sock yarn - which makes for a shawl that's just under THREE METERS long.
Here, you can see the middle color better:
This is how much yarn I have left:
Given this started as three 400yd balls of sock yarn, I think I managed to figure out where to start my decreases at JUST the right spot!!
And, just to share, thought I'd found a wonderful birthday cake at Giant, covered in little balls of yarn!!
Turns out, though, that they're balloons, and I was just looking at the cake upside-down. Sigh.
Let's see. Will have a "less knitting" week on the Monster Yarn Stitch Pattern project, since I got lots of patterns done in time for yesterday.
Had to rethink (and then restart) the SmarTrip Scarf - it's now 120 stitches, k1p1, in the round. I didn't like the way the edges looked, and being doubled up will make it even warmer. It will also now be possible to knit it from one end to the other, with a split-pocket in the center for the neck-part (and Secret Pockets! with Zippers!!). Bought four more skeins of yarn, since it appears I'll be knitting this thing forever - after most of the week, I've gotten six ENTIRE stripes done. Yowza!
Got the "Star" panel of the Hello Kitty scarf done - this one is my design again, but goes nicely with the Hello Kitties and Flower of the original pattern. Really hating the edge of this, too, so got more pink/black yarn (hey, I was buying black & green yarn anyway, and the Caron Supersoft was 2/$5!) and I'm going to do the reverse-negative designs for the "back" of the scarf, and then crochet the whole thing together and fringe it. So, basically, I'm knitting this scarf twice, but it should look good. And it'll be warm, which the single-layer might not have been.
My Pattern
Helped my mom tie a quick quilt for my godbrother (well, her godson - I think we've decided we're godcousins, maybe?). She also whipped up some matching pillow cases and curtains, and we got that in the mail to his new home. We tried to keep it somewhat grownup, since he's twelve, and starting to get sensitive about things that are too babyish.
And, finally, got a hook on the back of my front door, which should help with the Pile of Coats problem that was starting to annoy me (sometime in 2004). Home improvement sometimes takes running into The Perfect Coat-Hook Thing for $4 at Marshall's.
I also finished something last weekend, but I didn't get decent photos, so you'll see that on Monday. Wheee!
The project: Knitting all the stitches in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory.
The yarn: Anything you want. I'm using a Phentex "Monster Ball of Yarn" (32 oz. 100% acrylic), which won't block, but will give good stitch definition.
The needles: Again, whatever you want that goes with your yarn. I'm using my beloved Lantern Moon size 7s, because they're pretty.
Why this is happening: Because lots of people want to learn new stitches this year!
This week's stitches: Close Checks (#7), Diagonal Rib (#8), Diagonals (#9), Diamond Pattern (#10), Double Basketweave (#11) and Double Seed Stitch/Double Moss Stitch (#12)
First, Close Checks. This is worked over a multiple of six stitches, so that will give me eighteen pattern stitches with six border stitches on each side. Since the pattern repeats over eight rows, three repeats will get us to 24 rows. The principle is the same as Box Stitch, just over more stitches (three) and rows (four). Looks like a big, well-defined box stitch, too.
Things I noticed about this pattern: Reversible, as advertised. As in I was going to show you a shot of the front, but it looks EXACTLY like the back, so what's the point? Does try to pull in a bit width-wise (it's basically a 3x3 rib every four rows), but wouldn't have to be blocked.
Second, Diagonal Rib. Finally, another pattern worked over four stitches! Something actually divisible evenly into 20! This means five border stitches, 20 pattern stitches, five border stitches. It's another pattern that repeats over eight rows, so three repeats will get us to 24 rows here, too.
Things I noticed about this pattern: Reversible, as advertised. The trick seems to be "pay attention to the pattern on the RS; then, whatever stitch is there on the WS, do that again." So, if, on the WS, it looks like there's a purl stitch next (meaning you did a knit stitch on the RS), do a purl stitch.
This pattern tries to bunch in on itself a bit, but can't. And it's a mite strange-looking. I'm not sure what I'd use it for - dishcloths, maybe? It makes an interesting texture. Making Diagonal Ribs in the round could be cool (now trying to imagine the "fun" of matching sleeve and body ribs so everything swirls together up to the neckline - *shudder*).
Third, Diagonals. KnittingOnTheNet.com says this about this pattern:"A stockinette background with reverse stockinette diagonal ridges make this pattern stitch pop out. The wrong side looks equally nice but the ridges move in the other direction and are larger. The ridges and background can be worked over any number of stitches and each can be wider or more narrow once the principle is understood."
It's an odd one, worked over a "multiple of 8 +6". This means I can have one repeat (for a whopping 14 stitch wide pattern) or two repeats (for an extra-wide 22 stitches). I'm going to go with the 22 stitches, so I can get a feel for what multiple repeats look like. This means four border stitches, 22 pattern stitches, four border stitches.
Things I noticed about this pattern: Well, the notes from KnittingOnTheNet.com are right. This could be done with as many k's and/or p's as you wanted. It acts like a rib, though, and does scrunch in on itself. If you were just looking for texture, you'd want to do it in a fiber that would block flat.
Trying to get a better shot,
so you can see how it pulls in on itself
Fourth, Diamond Pattern. This is a multiple of thirteen. Two multiples (26 stitches) won't work for my blanket strip, so I'm just going to do the pattern over 20 stitches. This means I'll be doing the following (the part beyond the pattern as stated is in bold):
Row 1: k6, p1, k6; k6, p1
Row 2: p1, k1, p5; p5, k1, p1, k1, p5
Row 3: k4, (p1,k1) 2 times, p1, k4; k4, p1, k1, p1
Row 4: (p1, k1) 2 times, p3; p3, (k1, p1) 3 times, k1, p3;
Row 5: k2, (p1, k1) 4 times, p1, k2; k2 (p1, k1) 2 times, p1
Row 6: (p1, k1) 3 times, p1; (p1, k1) 6 times, p1; (and then the "Repeat Row x" continues as before.)
It's at least a pattern over twelve rows, so two repeats is all I'll need.
Things I noticed about this pattern: Lies somewhat flat, due to all the k1p1-ing, but the stockinette areas really need blocking. It has texture, and design, yet it's easy to figure out by halfway through the first repeat. I ended up not actually looking at the pattern for the last 18 rows, which is always nice, so this would be a great pattern for decoration over a large area - interesting enough, but not tricky; it would also make a nice up-the-center motif on sleeves or the front/back of a sweater.
Back
Fifth, Double Basketweave. Yes, if it's a three-day weekend, there are likely to be extra patterns snuck in. (Don't worry, this won't happen often.) This one is a "multiple of 4 +3", so I'll choose (4x4) +3 = 19 stitches' worth of pattern. I'll set it up as five border stitches, 19 pattern stitches, six border stitches, to keep consistent with keeping the larger number of border stitches at the end of the first RS row of the pattern. Since it's worked over 8 rows, I'll do 3 repeats. Also, since like regular Basketweave, it depends on the k-across rows, I'll do a twenty-fifth row (the k-across), which will leave me with five rows of seed stitch between this and the next pattern.
I really wish it photographed better, it's REALLY pretty.
Things I noticed about this pattern: Like the Diagonal Rib, the trick seems to be "pay attention to the pattern on the RS; then, whatever stitch is there on the WS, do that again." It's not reversible, as you can see from the photo below - in fact, I wouldn't reverse it, ever, since it looks like a garter stitch as done by my three-year-old self. But the front looks very nice!
Finally, Double Moss Stitch aka Double Seed Stitch- except it's the same as Box Stitch, which we've already done in the first week. No need to repeat, but it's nice to have it as a reference both places in the alphabetical list and to know it's one of those patterns with more than one name!A note on the whole project: Since there are 139 stitch patterns (some are listed under multiple headings), plus 7 different edgings in KnittingOnTheNet.com's Stitch Directory, I'll be trying to do two to three stitches a week, minimum. This should get everyone a goodly number of new stitches by the end of the year, and hopefully get me a blanket. No worries if you "fall behind" or "start late" - this is for fun & education, there isn't *really* a time limit of any sort on it. If you're just discovering this project, this link will take you to the beginning, and this link will pull up all the related entries. Just knit on, and have fun!
